If you’re dreaming big, then the size of your vision will surpass your present abilities. Not only that, but your dream will even dwarf your potential abilities. No matter how much you grow and develop, you won’t ever be able to accomplish the dream alone. One is too small a number to achieve greatness.

Every dream needs a team in order to come true. The questions are who to include on the team and how to convince them to join.

Who should I include on my dream team?

Life is especially hard on dreams, and when challenges arise we can be tempted to delay the dream indefinitely or to abandon it altogether. That’s why every dream team has inspirers. These people keep hope alive by providing continual encouragement. They believe in the dream even when you start to doubt it.

There’s a fine line between a dream and a fantasy, and it can be easy to cross. Every dreamer needs honest critics to keep from wandering into make-believe. These constructive critics are not skeptics or cynics; they believe in the dream just as much as you do. However, they’re attuned to reality, and they know that a dreamer who avoids facts and evidence will inevitably lose credibility.

Finally, every dreamer must surround herself with people who possess complementary skills. Our strengths are narrow, and we cannot possibly hope to excel at every activity required for the dream to materialize. Mother Teresa expressed this idea with elegant simplicity: “I can do things you cannot, you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.”

How Should I Share My Dream?

1) Emotionally

Have you ever gone through a checkout lane and had a cashier robotically recite a sales pitch asking you to sign up for the retailer’s credit card? If so, you know that presentation without passion is utterly unconvincing. Obviously, the first person that should be excited about the dream is you. If you aren’t passionate about it, no one else will be either.

Sharing the dream starts with passion, but it also requires a personal connection with others. People buy into the leader before they buy into the dream. How do you get team members to buy into you as a leader? By serving them and adding value to their lives. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

2) Logically

Communicate the tangible benefits of buying into the dream. Most people are tuned into WII-FM radio: What’s In It For Me?  They rarely do anything until they see the personal, measurable benefits of taking action.  Put another way, most people don’t change until they know enough that they are able to, care enough that they want to, or hurt enough that they have to.

In addition to spelling out the practical benefits of participating in the dream, have a game plan that you can articulate clearly and succinctly. People need to know the path they’re going to travel before they will sign up for the journey.

Thoughts to Ponder

Who are the key members of your dream team? What role does each person play? What vacancies do you have on the team? Who could you recruit to fill them?

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